


All I Want is To Fly (With You)

by terrae



Category: The Greatest Showman - Fandom, X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, In Which Shaw is Not Actually That Evil!, M/M, Period Typical Attitudes, The Soundtrack is So Inspiring
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 06:29:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13229958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrae/pseuds/terrae
Summary: Something about this bleak town is different for once, Erik notes. It’s happy.Then he finds out the reason.The circus is here.Erik can’t wrap his head around it. People pay real money to watch other people in costumes (mind you, they can’t even be called costumes, more like rags and tatters) and making fools of themselves? They endure an hour of having to watch a bunch of misguided individuals run around and sing and dance?But the townsfolk are happy, his mind supplies. Yes, but how can they be? What can be so entertaining about it?Erik decides to find out himself.Inspired by The Greatest Showman





	All I Want is To Fly (With You)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friends (you know who you are) who gave me the idea ^-^ I have wanted to do an au of this movie ever since I saw it so here it is!!!!

_“What if you could change one thing – just one thing about the world? What would it be?” Erik asks him and Charles bites his lip and his cheeks are tinted with that rosy color Erik has grown to long for. He looks as if he’s surprised by the question._

_“I think you know the answer to that,” he says. His eyes twinkle under the lamppost light, his smile turning sad. “You know exactly what I would change.”_

X X X X X X  

 

Something about this bleak town is different for once, Erik notes. It’s happy.

He doesn’t wander a lot on foot. His father doesn’t allow it, says it ruins the shoes. But when he does, he sees the people are no longer wearing the gloomiest faces. It’s a change that Erik doesn’t find displeasing. It’s about time the people of Westchester got a taste of what real happiness felt like.

Then he finds out the reason.

The circus is here.

X X X X X X 

Erik can’t wrap his head around it. People pay real money to watch other people in costumes (mind you, they can’t even be called costumes, more like rags and tatters) and making fools of themselves? They endure an hour of having to watch a bunch of misguided individuals run around and sing and dance?

“How ludicrous,” his father says over dinner when Erik brings it up. “Don’t those people have anything better to do with their lives? Those people belong in households. Make clean money by serving and doing jobs that benefit the community. Not by being a part of that freak show!” He cackles.

Erik doesn’t laugh.

He was about to mention that the majority of them were mutants but decides to lets it go to save himself another lecture about how “demeaning this circus business is for genetically superior humans.”

But the townsfolk are happy, his mind supplies. Yes, but how can they be? What can be so entertaining about it?

Erik decides to find out himself.

X X X X X X 

As it has been for the past few weeks, the entrance gates are swarming with people. Erik feels like an outsider, a spy amongst them but he has to remind himself that he’s no longer in his tailored clothes. He’s given that up for today. Instead, he’s put on his cloak in order not to stand out. Tonight, he’s just a spectator.

Shaw’s Circus is… colourful. Erik can give him that. There’s not an area inside the theatre that’s not covered in colour: the floors, the walls, the costumes, even the seats. Erik has been to lots of parties hosted by the wealthiest Americans, the crème de la crème but he has always thought the décor was rather dull.

The show starts, an explosion of movement and good planning. In the center of it is Shaw who is such an eccentric man in the way he moves and introduces each act that Erik can’t help but look forward to the next act that is about to perform.

And it delivers. There’s _Phoenix_ whom Erik doesn’t think too much of at first but then she turns into a great, flaming bird echoing taking the shape of her act name, and Erik is in awe. There’s _Beast_ , a huge, fuzzy, _blue **beast** _ that climbs onto ropes and dangles from them, and he’s joined by _Mystique_ who is just as blue as him but less furry and is excellent at gymnastics and who can turn into people as well. _Shapeshifter_ , Erik thinks in excitement akin to a child. He watches as she pulls a little girl from the audience by the hand and takes her to the middle, then transforms into her faster than anyone can blink. After them, Banshee and Angel take the stage, who are just as extraordinary as everyone before them. Then there’s _Jubilee_ who can produce fireworks from the tips of her fingers and _Gambit_ who can throw cards across the stage and does numerous card tricks.

Erik doesn’t wish for it to end. He’s sitting on the edge of his seat when the lights begin to dim and Shaw steps out, introducing a Professor X, who makes the audience squeal with excitement. An anticipated act then.

_You’d be surprised, my friend,_ Erik hears in his head. In his head! But that’s impossible.

_Nothing’s impossible,_ he hears again before a young boy steps out from behind the curtains and the crowd goes wild.

Erik tries to sit taller in his seat. Not wanting to intermingle in the pushing crowds lest he gets found out, he purchased one of the last tickets, hence why he has ended up with one of the farthest seats from the stage.

Professor X greets the audience, his voice resonating across the stage with such eloquence that Erik for a minute thinks he really is a professor talking to his students.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he begins, moving across the stage, his movements sprightly, lively. Vibrant. “May I introduce myself, my name is Professor X and I can read your minds,” he adds with a smirk, the crowd making anticipatory noises that Erik rolls his eyes at. He’s heard of telepaths and knows for a fact that the best of them can only guess which number he’s thinking of.

Professor X meets his eyes… as if he heard that, and grins. He turns to the crowd again with a wicked smile, “I can see on some of your faces that you are not convinced. Well, it’s my job to make sure none of you walk out of here thinking I’m bluffing. And it’s also kind of why I get paid.” The audience laughs, he laughs along with them and even from a distance, Erik thinks Professor X’s eyes are warm.

“Today, I’m in need of a volunteer,” he says, though Erik doesn’t catch it, too busy staring. He catches on when some people raise their hands. He pays attention just in time to see Professor X pointing towards him and a gentle voice in his head telling him, _Don’t be shy, I don’t bite_. “You, sir. Come on up.”

The audience parts for Erik so that he can descend the stairs. He has to admit he feels a little nervous for multiple reasons but the more he nears the alleged mind reader, the clearer he sees him. For once, he looks very young, perhaps younger than Erik himself. His complexion is fair, eyes a striking light blue that seem to penetrate his soul. Erik hesitates before taking the final step down. Only the knee-tall fence separates them.

“What’s your name, sir?”

“Max,” Erik lies. Professor X smirks as if he knows it isn’t true, but he doesn’t comment.

“Have you ever had your mind read before, then?”

Erik shakes his head. “I suppose not.”

“And how do you feel about me taking a look at what’s in there? Are you excited?”

“God, no.”

The audience laughs, so does Professor X, and Erik feels himself smiling, too, despite himself.

Erik gets his mind read, and by that, he means that the number he’s thinking of is guessed correctly. As is his favourite color and the name of his teachers. He’s having a good time, something which he hadn’t thought might happen. The audience loves Professor X, Erik notes that as well, seeing the young man get praised by the crowd and cheered for.

“Now for the most interesting part,” he pauses for effect. “No man is without secrets; let’s try to see if I can find out your deepest, darkest, most clandestine secret that you’re not proud of!” A moment later, he heard _, Don’t worry, I won’t disclose anything you_ really _aren’t proud of_ , when he has gone rigid.

Then Professor X dives into his mind before he can stop him. Not even a second later, he comes back, face pale as he gives Erik a look that Erik is not sure how to decipher it. Professor X moves away, telling the crowd about the time when he broke his mother’s special vase and claimed his sister did it. Not even his memory – the man had simply picked his sister as an element in his fabricated story but it made the crowd laugh.

So that’s what he is. A fraud.

Erik goes back to his seat and doesn’t pay attention as Shaw introduces the final act, something about a Wolverine and a Sabretooth.

He knows, Erik thinks, in frenzy. He knows what Erik has done; the one thing he vowed not to let anyone in on and to have it simply found out like that makes his blood boil. He’s being silly, perhaps Professor X hasn’t even seen anything – he made up the story! So maybe he really hasn’t – maybe… Goddamn this, Erik isn’t going to assume. He knows he has to act.

X X X X X X 

After the show is over, Erik goes backstage. The acts are dressing up, gathering their supplies and organizing their things. He spots Phoenix and Jubilee talking and wonders if they might have an idea where their friend is. However, as he makes his way over he’s stopped by a big, bulky man who’s covered from head to toe with _metal_. Erik can feel it all over him. “Refunds are at the desk, bub. Auditions ain’t here, either.”

Erik shakes his head, “No, I’m not here for that.”

“Then what the hell are you doing here?” the man pushes him out and shuts the door. Erik stares at the door dumbly for a whole minute before sighing and turning to leave.

He will have to come back.


End file.
